No Bike Helmut? Lose Your Wheels

[lib2DaBone]

Source: Boston.Com

HOLLISTON - If you're young and ride a bicycle through town without a helmet, you may end up walking back home. Police here are looking for scofflaws and will snatch the pedals from your feet if you've been warned numerous times but still forgo headgear.

Holliston police, frustrated in trying to drive home the point that riding without a helmet is dangerous and illegal, are hoping the tactic will finally get the attention of young riders.

"We're not looking to take bikes away from the kids who forget their helmets," School Resource Officer David Gatchell said yesterday. "This isn't something where we're looking to collect a hundred bikes. We don't want to seize bikes, but for the kids who repeatedly ignore the warnings, it will happen."



Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/09/11/no_bike_helmet_lose_your_wheels/

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Govt Reqd Equip Checklist: Helmut, DARE T-Shirt, Sugar-Free Gum, Bible, Jesus Fish Bookbag? OK Kid.. you can go out and play now.

[Bob Dobbs]

1. Creeping fascism.

Children must learn to obey!!!

[HomerRamone]

21. well, it said his name was Helmut

:rofl:

[mainegreen]

2. They take bikes here in Portland after three warning for not having a light at night.

:shrug:

[tazkcmo]

3. And bubble wrap and Lysol. n/t

[Shine]

4. Frankly, and as an avid cyclist, I see this as a good thing.

Hopefully, it's enough of a deterrent for the kids to take it seriously.

Helmets save lives, pure and simple.

It saved mine, once, so I know what I'm talking about.

They don't call 'em "brain buckets" for nothin', ya know.

[gratuitous]

5. Helmets are only useful

If there's something inside your skull worth protecting. And since I can't count on getting by on my good looks forever, I always wear a helmet.

[mike_c]

6. me too-- I wish police in my college town were more proactive...

...about enforcing cycling laws, particularly rules of the road laws like stopping at intersections, turning from the proper lane (and SIGNALLING), etc.

[jobycom]

12. I'd love to see that, too. Take the bikes from adults who blow through Stop signs.

Make them take a safety training course before they can get them back. As a cyclist and a driver, I hate to see cyclists who believe they are above the law.

[Shine]

15. Too bad we can't take the cars from adults who aren't safe, either.

:D

I guess they can have their licenses taken, but not quite the same thing.

[Shine]

14. I live in a college town, too....Santa Cruz, CA...and I can't tell you

the number of times I've seen young students barreling down the hill at full speed without a helmet, without using arm signals when turning...it's crazy.

As a parent of two school-age kids, I want to yell out at them, "WHAT are you doing??! Don't you know your mama loves you??"

What REALLY irks me, though, is seeing parents out on a ride with their young 'uns and the parents aren't wearing helmets, but the kids are. Great role-modeling. :eyes:

I ALWAYS wear a helmet and I tell my kids I'm a "helmet Nazi." :D They'll grow up appreciating how important they are. Here's hoping, anyway.

[sandnsea]

7. Our police give the kids helmets

We don't have a problem.

[lib2DaBone]

18. Free Helmuts are a good (Proactive) thing....

I knew the Safety issue would come up. No one is debating that. Helmuts do protect. But somehow, I just feel bad for the kids.. they never have a chance to be "just kids". I grew up in the 60's in a large city. I rode Bikes, skateboards, motorcycles and snowboards in the winter. Never had a helmut.. scraped my elbows and knees a bunch of times. Kids today have way more than I ever had.. but then again.. they have way less... if that makes sense?

[frazzled]

8. Good

Helmets should be absolutely required by law, and if there is a law, it has to have some enforcement teeth. This is a public safety issue, and if cigarette smoking can be regulated and enforced, and seat belt law can be regulated and enforced, and cell-phone-while driving can be regulated and enforced, this has to be too.

I have seen the devastating effects of non-helmet use (and, conversely, the protection they afford). It's personal for me. I have no problem with helmet laws that save brains and lives. Especially for kids.

[ContraBass Black]

9. How will they positively identify riders?

I see from the article that they're starting with public education, the bikes will be returned after a holding period, and the police are offering free helmets. It sounds reasonable.

[Not Me]

10. I'd say ticket the parents...

I would never venture out of my driveway without a helmet.

Incidentally, I used to live in upstate NY. A local bike shop wanted to reward kids who were 'caught' riding with a helmet.
They arranged with a local ice cream shop to have 1500 free ice cream 'tickets' printed. These were given to the police chief to hand out when they had an opportunity.
They refused, saying that it promoted one ice cream store over others.

Go figure.

[Ammonium]

11. There is nothing inherently dangerous about bike riding!

As an amateur cyclist stuff like this really bothers me. There is nothing dangerous about riding your bike.

[jobycom]

16. No. But you can make it dangerous. Running stop signs, failing to maintain your equipment,

and riding without a helmet are all things to make bike riding more dangerous. When I was a kid I never wore a helmet, because I lived in the country, never rode in heavy traffic, and if I crashed, I usually landed on dirt or grass.

My kids always wear their helmet, because they ride on sidewalks and subdivision streets, have to dodge cars, mailboxes, and debris that some idiots think should be stacked on sidewalks. And if they crash, they are going straight down on to cement or asphalt.

[Shine]

20. A helmet saved my life once when my tires slipped in some water

and I hit my head on the corner of the curb.

Cracked my helmet.

It happened incredibly fast.

I was lucky.....and there were NO other cars involved!

[Shine]

17. You've GOT to be kidding me.

ANY time one goes out on a bike, among cars, there is danger involved.

Just because YOU might be paying attention doesn't mean the drivers of cars are.

C'mon.... DUH! :crazy:

[cvoogt]

13. Helmets + safe biking

Helmets can be a good thing, but shouldn't become a replacement for teaching kids to bike safely.
If there are no bike paths or sidewalks to bike on, I wouldn't let me kid bike on a regular street, even with a helmet.
In places like Holland, no one wears helmets, but biking is very normal. Ever been to Amsterdam?
The bikers there are pretty brazen, and if there is ever an accident involving a bike and a car, the car's always proclaimed at fault by default. This makes drivers very cautious. In the US we don't have such protections, and often there are no separate bike lanes or paths, so yes, helmets become more of a necessity.

I'd prefer to see more bike paths/lanes, and getting kids to stay off busy streets with cars, even with helmets on. You can still get hurt badly with a helmet on. It's a solution in itself, but a band-aid.

edit: changed title from "overkill" to reflect my actual opinion. I am not advocating not using helmets!!!

[merwin]

22. Ask anyone on a motorcycle what the most dangerous thing on the road is,

and they will tell you it's other vehicles. As good of a rider on a bike (be it motor powered or not), you cannot control the stupidity of others. Drivers simply don't look for cycles and end up hitting them.

As someone who got in a fairly low speed motorcycle accident (30mph) because of the stupidity of another driver crossing traffic in front of me, helmets are a good thing.

[FiveGoodMen]

28. And yet I see motocyclists without helmets every day

No one takes their stuff away.

[Shine]

23. Nope. Not overkill at all. Helmets save lives, pure and simple.

I agree with your point about teaching kids bike safety, though.

I'd love to see regular programs in the schools about that. After all, most schools have basic fire safety lessons for first graders.

I'd love to see more bike paths, too, but sadly, until that happens, riding in traffic is the reality, unless you're a mountain biker.

My kids always ride with their helmets on and so do I. Keeping them off the streets is completely impractical, unless you live in the boonies. I don't think it's safe to teach them to ride on the sidewalks, it's much better to teach them the rules of the road, which frankly all cyclists in the US are bound by. That means signals and stopping at all turns!

[cvoogt]

24. "overkill" poor choice of words

'overkill' was probably the wrong word to use ;)
My point was to stress responsible biking and not assume kids are safe because they have a helmet on.
Of course you can do both, and in this car society it is a necessity.
I grew up in a place where no one wears helmets - but that is only possible because the infrastructure and laws make biking very safe there.

I have known people who have gotten hit by cars, though, and the helmet's what saved them from severe injury.
It's important to still teach kids to watch out for themselves *as if* they don't have a helmet on. It's only an added protection - their best protection is still their attentiveness and whatever their parents taught them (and that they took to heart)!

[Newsjock]

19. It doesn't matter who is "right"

In car vs. bike, the bike always loses.

[mike_c]

26. all the more reason why cyclists should be somewhat aggressive, IMO....

I've been riding like an adult for decades, so I practice what I preach. Most motorists don't want to hit or injure bicyclists-- most accidents happen because the motorist didn't see a cyclist, the motorist was able to try something sketchy like passing in unsafe circumstances, or the cyclist allowed themselves to be somewhere that motorists don't expect someone to be, like sandwiched on the far right at an intersection.

My experience is that the best way to avoid these problems is to ride as much like a motorist driving a car as possible. Obey traffic rules, like stopping at intersections and signaling turns because that's what motorists expect of other drivers. Aggressively command your lane when approaching intersections, etc because otherwise motorists will try to pass and then you're in the "wrong" place relative to their car-- if you're in front of them, in the middle of the lane, they can see you and the must treat you like any other vehicle on the road.

[JonQ]

25. They already do this

in many places with seat-belts, not a big deal.

[AllieB]

27. I'm usually against government intervention, but I'm for this law.

Boston and Cambridge are college towns, and a lot of people cycle to and from work/class. It's also very congested, and though both cities are making efforts to accommodate cyclists, between cars and pedestrians, you really have to have your wits about you.

While living and working in the Boston and Cambridge, I saw two serious bike accidents. In one of them, the cyclist died of her head injuries. This happened right in front of me, and I had a difficult time getting back on a bike for over a year. This was one of the worst things I've ever seen. In the other, the guy ended up with brain damage. They both weren't wearing helmuts.

I view the helmut laws like the seatbelt laws in many states. You may not like the law, but it may save your life.